“Terry Winter, Martin Scorsese and the rest of their outstanding team continue to produce a stunning show thatnever fails to surprise and entertain,” said Lombardo. “We are excited to bring this unique series back for a fourth season.”

From Terence Winter, Emmy®-winning writer of “The Sopranos” and Academy Award®-winning director Martin Scorsese, BOARDWALK EMPIRE is set in the 1920s during Prohibition, and chronicles the life and times of Enoch “Nucky” Thompson, the undisputed leader of Atlantic City.

Last season, BOARDWALK EMPIRE averaged 8.6 million viewers an episode. To date, the first episode of the current season has already gathered 7.2 million viewers and will continue to grow via additional telecasts, DVR playback and HBO On Demand and HBO GO.

Among the early critical raves for the new season of BOARDWALK EMPIRE, the Boston Globe hailed the show’s “dazzling production” and “knockout performances,” while New York’s Daily News described it as “first-rate.” Newsday termed the series “immensely entertaining,” and Variety called it “as handsome, well cast and impeccably crafted as anything on TV.”

BOARDWALK EMPIRE recently received four 2012 Emmy® Awards, for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series (Tim Van Patten); Outstanding Art Direction for a Single-Camera Series (tie with “Game of Thrones”); Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series; and Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Supporting Role.

At the 2011 Primetime Emmy® Awards, the series led all programming with eight awards, including Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series (Martin Scorsese). In Jan. 2011, BOARDWALK EMPIRE received two Golden Globe Awards, for Best Television Series – Drama and Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama (Steve Buscemi).

HBO's Rome was cancelled for that reason...was getting good ratings and critical acclaim but the show got too expensive...will Boardwalk Empire suffer the same fate?...the show looks crazy expensive for a TV show...probably the biggest budget of any show on broadcast or cable

Not that the show is stale yet by any means, but by the end of this season and the just-announced next that 5-year point where most shows really start to slip will be fast approaching. Now is the time, Terence Winter. Keep Boardwalk Empire good until the end by planning ahead.

He was quite obviously the inspiration for Michael Corleone, as he turned essentially all organized crime in America into the Mafia's fold under his control. That's how I know Rosetti is going to get offed at some point. I wonder if Rosetti works under Joe Masseria.
You could then start a spin-off show about Luciano and his transformation of the Mafia into an ubiquitous corporation, controlling unionized labour and Las Vegas, until Truman exiled him.

I thought it was more the BBC pulling out their share of the funding that lead to rome getting cancelled, as HBO wasnt prepared to fund it on their own. This may be different, as they aint using an external partner.

Great decision by HBO. This show is compelling for so many reasons, every episode is like a stand alone movie. It's almost up there with the Sopranos, The Wire, and the other immortal shows that have come before. When they stick the finish this season, it's time to bring up the word masterpiece.

New York had no shortage of gangsters during that period.
In reality Luciano worked under Masseria both before and after his association with Rothstien. The show isn't especially historically accurate.
Also I hope they have time to devote to Stephen Root's character
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaston_Means

Just sayin'. The "real" Nucky's career lasted decades...he didn't die until '68...so, maybe they could do some time-skips.
Mind you, the HBO version is *heavily* fictionalized, but still, if they parallelled the "real" Nucky, we'd see him involved in union politics in the '50's and stuff, which could be fun.

Once he is set up there, he might actually be boxing himself in. Once the liquor stops flowing between New York and Atlantic City, or if Gyp charges too much of a premium to the delivery convoys that come through Tabor Heights, the other bootleggers and gangsters will band together to take him down.
I love how the whole Tabor Heights story thread is taking on almost a wild west feel, with the law being run out of town by the bandits.